Tennessee Sovereignty Resolution

Legislators in Tennessee submitted House Joint Resolution 108 (HJR0108) on February 18th.Â While it’sÂ non-binding, some of the language is quite well put.Â Here’s the intro:

A RESOLUTION to affirm Tennessee’s sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and to demand the federal government halt its practice of assuming powers and of imposing mandates upon the states for purposes not enumerated by the Constitution of the United States.

Halting the practice of assuming powers not enumerated is a great step.Â Rolling back all the previous unconstitutional legislation is also a must in the future.

Here’s the rest of the bill:

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 108
By Lynn

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as
follows: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it
to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”; and

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that
specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and

WHEREAS, the scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the
federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and

WHEREAS, today, in 2009, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal
government; and

WHEREAS, many powers assumed by the federal government and federal mandates
are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States,
112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and
regulatory processes of the states; and

WHEREAS, a number of proposals from previous administrations and some now
pending from the present administration and from Congress may further violate the Constitution
of the United States; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED
SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE

CONCURRING, that we hereby affirm Tennessee’s sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to
the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to
the federal government by the Constitution of the United States. We also demand the federal
government to halt and reverse its practice of assuming powers and of imposing mandates
upon the states for purposes not enumerated by the Constitution of the United States.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a committee of conference and correspondence be
appointed by the Speaker of the House and of the Senate, which shall have as its charge to
communicate the preceding resolution to the legislatures of the several states, to assure them
that this State continues in the same esteem of their friendship and to call for a joint working
group between the states to enumerate the abuses of authority by the federal government and
to seek repeal of the assumption of powers and the imposed mandates.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to
the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker and
the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and to each member of Tennessee’s
Congressional delegation.